I've got a few questions about the Exchange. Usually in software development, you'll go through a few iterations and versions before a good stable product becomes mature. Does the Captivate Exchange give you control over the file that's posted? So if a users finds a bug or has a really good suggestion that warrants a change, I could make the adjustments to the widget and repost the file? Also, is there some kind of QA review that one has to go through so folks don't post junk... meaning does the Captivate Development Team review these submissions and approve them? Just curious how all that works.

I think it's one of those sorts of affairs where you just upload and they make it available. Not sure how things are handled from a QA perspective. Although I do believe a cursory review is performed to ensure what was sent isn't just junk.

I initially discovered it after Silke Fleischer pointed it out to me. I've also heard reports that the folks that manage it may be a bit slow to respond. But it's a great idea in theory as it provides "one stop shopping" for all sorts of stuff. Right from the start page of Captivate 4!

The approval process on the Exchange is very slow to put it nicely. They do perform some form of Q&A but I think it's limited to opening the file and see if it works or not. IMHO the approval process is probably more a check to avoid that some people upload or write obscene stuff.

Once approved you can change a couple of the parameters without having to go through a "re-approve" situation. If you reupload your file to the Exchange because of a new version then it will need to go through the approval process again but your "old" item will still be live.

I never upload my files to the Exchange but simply link the download to the file on my own website. That way I can update the file when I want to and still keep everything fresh in the Exhange. Afterwards I can change the text in the Exhange and then that will go through the approval process again - however, since the file is updated then it doesn't matter that it will take months to change the text.

Updated the video in the TOC widget. Made the settings more user friendly and there is less setup to do. It doesn't matter if you have a playbar or not, an external skin or not, you still get the amount of pixels above the TOC that you decide in the widget settings. I also squashed a few bugs. You can find it here.

I'm trying to get a streaming video to work in captivate. I finally did this by creating the access to the video in flash and then importing the flash file into captivate. The problem I'm having is that the closed caption that I created in flash is not working in captivate. If I run the swf file outside of flash it works fine. I can even see it in the preview in captivate, but the minute I load it into captivate it goes away. I can't create the closed caption in captivate as if I do and they pause the video the closed caption in captivate keeps playing. Any suggestins? Is there a widget for this?

So you're saying the streaming video doesn't work in Captivate according to your earlier post? If you want to create the captions in Cp, this is what I would do:

I'm assuming you're using AS3 and that you have a controller on your .flv to play/pause it. If the user pauses your streaming flv, you could also pause the captivate movie which would also pause the closed captions. In your flash file, I'd get a reference to the captivate main movie like so:

//Get reference to main Cp movie

var mainmov:MovieClip = MovieClip(root);

//Detect if movie is using a skin

if (mainmov.cpHasSkinSWF){

mainmov = mainmov.parent;

}

//When user clicks the pause button in your flash .flv controller, you can pause the Cp movie as well:

You'll want to add an import statement to the very top of your code to import the namespace your're working with:

//Import display namespace

import flash.display.*

The code isn't really meant to be a simple cut and paste. If you have a button click handler for your .flv controller, you'll want to put the play and pause code in those handlers accordingly. If you need help, attach your file to the post and I can look at it... or PM me.

Nice work. I didnt think it was possible. However when i try to use the TOC Expander Button widget it doesn work. The project is as3 but adding the widget appears to crash my captivate. any thoughts? The other comment is I wanted to test your Reposition the Closed Caption Box widget but I get an error message from google docs. Do you have that posted anywhere else? thnx for the help in advance.

In regards to the TOC Expander Button widget, make sure you're publishing in AS3, FP10. If you need another version, let me know. I'll also be happy to take a look at your project. Do you get any error messages?

I've fixed the link to the Reposition the Closed Caption widget. Thanks for pointing that out!

Thanks for the support and quick response. I have attached the file for you to play with. I am also wondering if you found a work around for linking from the TOC directly to an external project (e.g. captivate file) As you can see on the slide I sent you I can't directly link to another external project without first creating the slide and then creating a button that opens up that file. Thanks in advance

I would like to insert a widget per the instrcutions given in Cap4 Help. I've tried both sets of instructions in creating a folder with the .swf file and .xml file. When I put this folder in Cap4 under 'Gallery/Widgets', I am unable to call the .swf onto the stage either from the 'Insert Widget' way or the 'Widgets' pannel way (Window/Widget)

I've also tried this...When I open a new Cap4 presentation, I go to File/New and try to select 'Widget in Flash...' but that link isn't active (if that makes sense...the words 'Widget in Flash...' are grayed out so I can't select that option).

I would insert a widget from the widget panel in CP4. The trick is to make sure your Cp project matches the version of ActionScript the widget was built in. If you project is in AS2, you will only see AS2 widgets in the widget panel. If your Cp project is set for AS3, then you will only see AS3 widgets in the widget panel. You'll find that setting in the Edit menu --> Preferences --> under Project --> Publish Settings.

I have Flash CS4 and it works for me. If you contact support, maybe they can tell you a way to wire up Cp4 with Flash CS5. In Cp, when you choose File --> New --> Widget in Flash, all it does is create an .fla file with some pre-populated code. If you are serious about building widets, I wouldn't even go this route. I'd use the Widget API built by Infosemantics: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/605870?tstart=0 If you're curious, below is the .fla template that Cp creates for an AS3 static widget:

Created another widget that will open up your Cp4 projects to the world of web APIs and Web Services. It allows you to use system or user defined variables in the URL of a standard Cp4 Button. You can download it here.

Ahmet Cetin suggested on my blog that he wanted to use variables in the URL of a slide entry or exit action. He was integrating Cp with the DotNetNuke platform. I thought it was a great idea so here it is:

I am encountering problems with importing AS2-based interactive flash animations into CP4. The trouble is that I'm asked to reuse existing e-learning content (created by a competitor), loaded with AS2, within CP4. According to the CP4 Help files I should create a widget in Flash, via the CP4 File menu, and then modify the AS2 script on the first frame. OK, modify what exactly? No further explanations are given. When I import the "flashbutton"-widget example provided in the CP4 program folder, I encounter no problems in CP4 and am able to use that button to jump one slide ahead. However, I have created a simple test movie with two arrow buttons that slide a blue square from left to right and back across the stage. When I publish the swf, it works fine. When I merge that movie with the "interactive widget" template in Flash and publish the swf, it still works fine. When I import the widget into CP4 and click the arrows in the "New interactive widget" panel it stil works fine, but when it's on a slide and I preview the project, I do see the cursor change into a hand when I move over an arrow button, but clicking it will not move the blue square. Do you have any suggestions for me on how to get this to work? I have several animations with far more complicated interactivity that I need to reuse, but if I can't get even this simple one to work... I can provide you with the animation of course.

and I was going to try that one out today, but the "_lockroot"-option looks to be a better solution, especially in regard to using more than one animation per CP4-file.

As I'm not a flash programmer, but merely a simple flash user (illustrator, yes), I'm not sure how and where to implement that _lockroot property in the AS2-code of the animation. Could you still take a look at my example animation for me and implement it there? I might be able to use that as a template for further exploration.

It seems I may have to take a course in actionscript after all... But then I'd much rather dive into AS3, instead of AS2 :o(

Anyway, thanx a million in advance, because if this _lockroot solution does what it promises, it will cure what has become an unbearable headache by now!